Japanese Fire Water Cannon At Invading Taiwanese Ships

A a Japanese Coast Guard
crew member records Taiwanese fishing boats from his patrol boat
near the disputed islands called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in
China, in the East China Sea.(AP
Photo/Central News Agency) TAIWAN OUT

As many as 50 Taiwanese fishing boats entered territorial waters
that Japan claims around the Senkaku Islands on Tuesday, a
further escalation of the territorial dispute on the day that
China put its first aircraft carrier into service.

Japan
Coast Guard patrol vessels fired water cannons at the Taiwanese
ships after the vessels refused to heed warnings not to enter
Japanese waters in the morning. Eight surveillance ships
dispatched by Taipei to accompany the fishing boats retaliated
with water cannons against the Japanese ships.

When ordered to leave Japanese waters, the captain of one of the
Taiwanese patrol vessels replied that the ships were operating in
Taiwan's waters and engaged in legitimate activities. He also
demanded that the Japanese Coast Guard withdraw.

Many of the Taiwanese ships were flying banners demanding that
Japan hand over the territory to Taiwan, which knows the chain as
the Tiaoyutai. Further clouding the issue, China lays claims to
the isolated islands and calls them the Diaoyu.

Coast Guard officials in Okinawa, which administers the islands,
said there were no reports of any injuries in the clashes.

All the vessels had left Japanese territorial waters before
midday, although monitoring aircraft have since identified a
further six Chinese patrol ships sailing just outside the area
around the islands.

China's top military leaders attended the commissioning ceremony
for the aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, at a naval base in
Dalian, according to the Chinese Defence Ministry.

The ministry added that the vessel will help "effectively
safeguard national sovereignty, security and development
interests."

The 67,000-ton carrier – started by the Soviet Union before the
incomplete hulk was sold to China in 1998 – is capable of
carrying as many as 30 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.

While it may be relatively rudimentary in aircraft carrier
technology, the commissioning of the Liaoning makes China the
only nation in East Asia with the capability to project its naval
and air power and sends a clear message to its neighbours.

In yet another territorial dispute involving Japan, South Korea
refused permission for a Japanese warship taking part in a joint
naval exercise with Korea, Australia and the US to dock at one of
its ports.

Tokyo has lodged an official protest with Seoul and a Japanese
diplomat quoted by the Sankei newspaper in Tokyo described the
decision as "extremely rude."

South Korea and Japan are disputing the sovereignty of two small
islands that lay halfway between the two nations and are known as
Dok-do in South Korea, which has stationed a unit of armed police
on the islets.